I am a member of a group of volunteers
(StealthVolunteers) trying to reunify Katrina victims with their lost pets…
Does your shelter need any help in locating owners? There are about 700+
members and we’ve had a pretty good success rate! Cats are particularly
hard for owners to find as many are not listed on Petfinder and even if they
are, most are listed as domestic short hair. Also, you need unlimited long
distance to call shelters all over the country and need to have access for
hours of searching on the internet if you even want a chance of finding your
cat! Contact me privately if we can be of assistance.
-----Original Message-----
From:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Sherry DeHaan
Sent: Saturday,
December 10, 2005 11:24 PM
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: Re: sanctuaries
I just started volunteering for a felv and fiv
rescue,and it is very rewarding knowing that I am helping these sweet beautiful
animals to be happy and loved while they are here.The conditions of the place
is pretty good,there are workers there to clean litter boxes and change water
and dry food bowls all through the day up til around 9 or so.I just got home
from there.The sanctuary is ran by a vet whom I believe is a godsend to these
babies.She also runs another one for the healthy kitties,I volunteer there
too.I know I will be very sad when we lose one,but I just have to remember that
they are loved while they are here instead of out in the streets,I am in
Michigan and it is cold.We have 8 Katrina cats there.
Sherry
TenHouseCats
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
about
sanctuaries: there is NO substitute for a forever home! at the
sanctuary where i lived/worked, we did NOT take in housecats, only
strays and ferals. housecats just did not do well in our setting, tho
for the cats who had lived on their own, it was wonderful--constant
food, water, a roof over their heads, warmth (or cool, in the summer),
big windows to watch the birds and mice and raccoons through, and
people to love them. did they get enough attention? does any cat? we
knew them all by name, we cuddled with those who wanted it and just
kept an eye out for medical problems in those who did NOT consider
humans a good thing. because of state law, anything upholstered or
carpeted that couldn't be sanitized was not allowed--no comfy
furniture, no ordinary cat-trees. but little tykes furniture and kid's
pools full of blankies and beds work very well--usually, the pool have
more than a dozen cats in them at once. it was their home, but it
wasn't A home....
keeping volunteers for a FeLV situation can be difficult: the reality
is that FeLV cats die a lot sooner and more frequently than do FIVs or
the general population cats. finding someone gone in the morning was a
not uncommon occurrence; sometimes we'd known there were going and had
been treating them and keeping them comfortable, but just as often,
there'd been no warning at all. this was VERY VERY difficult for a lot
of outsiders to handle. (not that it was simple for us, but we were
more accepting that it was gonna happen.
a good sanctuary will have a board that has arrangements made in case
the people running it are unable to; a good sanctuary will always let
people come by to see the place before a cat is placed. this is NOT
the same as being open to the public: many sanctuaries are located in
or near the homes of those who run it, and neither they nor the cats
expect to have to deal with a constant stream of people in and out. we
NEVER kept anyone with a legitimate reason to come by from doing
so--but we needed notice, and respect for the fact that, occasionally,
the cats allowed us a few hours to ourselves! most of all, a good
sanctuary will know how to say, "No," when they are at capacity. many
of the sanctuaries that have gotten in trouble have done so because
turning down cats is so difficult. all it takes is to have a few cats
too many, and to encounter a problem--personal illness, an outbreak of
an illness in the cats, a loss of volunteers, an unexpected dip in
donations--and the situation can rapidly spiral downward. i'm not sure
why, but i've known a lot of people doing sanctuary work who've found
themselves in a situation that may be temporary, but they don't ask
for help from their boards and people who WOULD help if they knew.
fear of asking YET AGAIN for help? embarassment that they got into a
difficult situation? thinking that the don't need anyone else? who
knows--but it happens too often.
working with FeLVs and FIVs and other special-needs cats was
incredibly hard, and amazingly rewarding--if there's a sanctuary near
you, see if there's any help you can offer them. it's all for these
cats that no one seems to want...
MC
--
MaryChristine
AIM / YAHOO: TenHouseCats
MSN: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
ICQ: 289856892
Yahoo! Shopping
Find Great Deals on Holiday Gifts at Yahoo!
Shopping
|
